18.03.23

Over 41% rural households in Haryana still rely on firewood: NSSO

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Over 41 per cent households in rural Haryana are still relying on firewood, chips and crop residue for cooking while 3.7 per cent use dung cakes, reveals the Multiple Indicator Survey report of the National Sample Survey Office (NSS) 78th round.

Just 54.3 per cent households in rural areas of state are using LPG. However, in urban areas, the LPG usage has jumped to 94 per cent.

The survey was initially planned to be conducted during January-December, 2020, but due to the Covid pandemic, the data collection was continued up to August 15, 2021.

In rural Haryana, 3.3 per cent households dont have access to latrines and hand-washing facility. There are 4.3 per cent households that wash hands with water and ash or mud or sand, while 8.2 per cent wash hands with water only. There are 84.2 per cent rural households that wash hands with water and soap.

In comparison, in Punjab, 69 per cent rural Women have access to mobile phones and in urban areas it is 77 per cent. The neighbouring Himachal Pradesh has even better statistics, as 78.5 rural women there have access to mobile phones, while in urban areas it is 88.3 per cent.

Indebtedness is higher in rural Haryana among males in comparison to those living in urban areas. There are 17,583 males per lakh Population in rural areas, aged 15 and above, who were indebted to any institutional or non-institutional agency during the survey time-frame, while the figure for urban areas was 9,571 per lakh population.

In comparison, Punjab has more indebted men with 18,930 of them per lakh population (15 and above) in rural areas being indebted, while in urban areas the figure was 14,826 per lakh population.

Policy to allot plots to riot, terror victims extended by Punjab Government

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The Punjab Government has decided to extend the time period of a policy by five years under which riot and terror attack victims in the state get five per cent reservation in allotment of plots or houses without any financial concession.

Revenue Minister Brahm Shankar Jimpa said the Punjab Government had decided to extend the facility of reservation in allotment of plots/houses by urban estates, improvement trust and PEPSU Development Board without any financial concession for five more years.

The Revenue Minister said this facility of reservation was abolished on December 31, 2021, but with the decision taken now, it had been extended till December 31, 2026.

Water cess will not attract any financial burden on general public, clarifies HP Govt

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The water cess has been imposed only on the states hydro-power projects, the Himachal Pradesh Government clarified that the move will not put any financial burden on the common people.

The Governments official spokesperson said that the implementation of water cess was aimed to increase the states revenue and strengthen its economy, so that sufficient funds would be available for welfare schemes.

The has implemented the Himachal Pradesh Water Cess on Hydropower Generation Ordinance on March 10, 2023, and the Himachal Pradesh Water Cess on Hydropower Generation Bill, 2023, would also be brought in the upcoming assembly session, for which the state Cabinet has already given its approval, added the official.

The clarification from the government assumes significance as it is being apprehended that the burden of cess on the water being used to generate Hydro Power in the state would finally be passed onto the common people.

Notably, the Congress-led State Government has decided to impose water cess on the power projects established in the State to increase its financial Resources. The water cess has been imposed up to a maximum of 50 paise per cubic metre.

The Hydroelectric project with head up to 30 meters will have to pay 10 paise per cubic meter cess; hydroelectric project with head above 30 meter and up to 60 meter will have to pay 25 paise per cubic meter cess; hydroelectric project with head above 60 meter to up to 90 meter will have to pay 35 paise per cubic meter cess; and hydroelectric project with head above 90 meter will have to pay 50 paise per cubic meter cess.

Ukhand planning to double its GSDPby 25thanniversary: governor

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The governor lieutenant general (retd) Gurmit Singh said the is planning to double the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) of Uttarakhand by the year 2025 when the State completes 25 years of its creation. He said that the Pushkar Singh Dhami government has taken a commitment to fulfill the expectation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the third decade of the 21stcentury will belong to Uttarakhand. The governor was addressing the first day of the budget session of the State Assembly at Bharadisain in Gairsain.

Amid continued interruption from the opposition benches the governor read out the achievements and vision of the Dhami government. He said that the State government has set up a State Institute for Empowering and Transforming Uttarakhand (SETU) on the lines of NITI Aayog of the Centre. Similarly, Uttarakhand Infrastructure and Investment Development Board (UIIDB) has been set up to provide an impetus to the economy of the State. Presenting a rosy picture of the economy of Uttarakhand, the governor said that the per capita income (PCI) of the State stands at Rs 2,05, 840 which is 37 per cent more than the PCI of the country which is Rs 1,50,007. In the India Innovation Index 2021 of the NITI Aayog, Uttarakhand has been placed in second position among the Himalayan States and in fifth spot in the whole country.

The governor said that to give more representation to the Women of the State in government jobs, the Uttarakhand Public Service (horizontal reservation)-2022 Act was brought in. He said that in order to put an effective control on the use of unfair means and copying in the recruitment examinations the Dhami government has brought the Uttarakhand Recruitment Examinations (prevention of unfair means) ordinance 2023. The Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture and Farmer Welfare department has undertaken a State millet mission to encourage the cultivation of Millets and has initiated CM natural farming scheme and Namami Gange natural farming corridor scheme.

Under the Jal Jeevan Mission drinking water connection has been provided to 10,93,281 rural families. The Irrigation department is preparing a comprehensive master plan for construction of check Dams and stop dams for augmenting the ground water table. A total of 1,102 Amrit Sarovars (ponds) were constructed by the rural development department and out of them 340 ponds were handed over for fishery. The governor said that ropeway projects are underway in Yamunotri, Hemkund Sahib and Kedarnath which will make the Yatra more accessible. Work on 15 projects is underway as per the master plan to make Badrinath shrine a smart spiritual hill town. Free textbooks were given to 7.42 lakh students of classes I to VIII in the government and the aided schools of the State. Similarly for the first time free textbooks were given to 3.19 lakh students of classes IX to XII in the State. Under the higher Education department 20 institutes would be developed as the centre of excellence. Under the startup policy recognition has been given to 139 startups and financial assistance has been provided to 33 start-ups. The State government has applied for Geographical Indication (GI) tags for stinging nettle, pichhoda, crafted candles of Nainital, Mukhota (mask) of Chamoli and temple templates of Rudraprayag.

Debt burden on UPto touch Rs 7.84L cr by end of next fiscal

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The total debt burden on the Uttar Pradesh government is estimated to touch Rs 7.84 lakh crore by the end of next fiscal 2023-24 commencing from April 1. The exceeds the size of the annual budget of 2023-24, which is Rs 6, 90 lakh crore. The Reserve Bank Of India has flagged the state governments against the rising debt burden.

Although UPs debt burden has fallen to 32.1% of the gross state domestic product (GSDP) in 2023-24, compared to 34.2% in revised estimates for 2022-23, the sovereign debt in absolute terms is estimated to jump from Rs 7 lakh crore to Rs 7.84 lakh crore during the period.

According to the UP Annual Budget (2023-24), the nominal UP GSDP has been estimated at Rs 24.39 lakh crore in 2023-24.

Interestingly, the estimated public debt of Rs 7.84 lakh crore exceeds the UP Annual Budget of Rs 6.90 lakh crore by Rs 94,000 crore or nearly 14%. In 2022, the RBI had raised concerns over a built-up financial Stress in several states and suggested corrective steps in the five most indebted provinces.

Although UP does not figure among the top indebted states in India, the state witnessed its public debt ratio shoot past 30% of the GSDP during the pandemic years, owing to difficult economic conditions and muted tax collection, a phenomenon which was pan-Indian as well as global following Covid-19 exigencies.

While UP had successfully tamed the public debt ratio below 30% till 2020-21, it increased to 33.4% and 34.2% during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 (revised estimates) fiscal years, respectively, due to the pandemic.

Meanwhile, UP is estimated to receive about Rs 71,200 crore (2.9% of GSDP) in loans from the Centre during 2023-24, compared to Rs 51,860 crore (2.5% of GSDP) during 2022-23.

New med bill seeks jail for assault on docs

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The draft of the new medical personnel protectionBill, which was approved by the cabinet of chief ministerHemant Sorenearlier this week, has provisioned a maximum jail term of up to three years and a penalty of Rs 50,000 on patients and their kin, who are found guilty of assaulting medical service personnel and vandalizing government and private hospital properties.

The Indian Medical Associations Jharkhand chapter, which has welcomed the bill, claimed that the bills passage will help the states doctors to attend to their patients without the fear of being assaulted and also plug the influx of patients into the tertiary care centres in the cities from the districts and rural areas.

’13 lakh smart prepaid meters installed in Bihar’

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State energy minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav announced in the state assembly that the electricity department would hold block-level camps across the state on the second Saturday of every month, where problems of power consumers, including those using power from Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture feeder, would be resolved.

Yadav said the problems of power consumers regarding inflated electricity bills or those related to farmers, including demand of replacing burnt transformers of the agriculture feeder, would be looked into at the camps for amicable solution.

The energy minister made the announcements while replying to the House debate on his department’s budgetary demand to the tune of Rs 11,536.83 crore for the 2023-24 fiscal year. The opposition BJP that had moved the cut motion walked out of the House.

With an aim to end the Red menace in Chhattisgarh, the cabinet on Friday approved a Naxalite eradication policy for the state.

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The meeting of the cabinet was held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel here.

To enhance the quality of Education, the Education Department was authorized to implement a project, Chalk, worth about Rs 2,500 crore. The Finance Department was authorized to give the final approval to the loan.

Besides, the draft of the Chhattisgarh Protection of Media Persons Bill 2023 and Chhattisgarh Land Revenue Code 1959 (Amendment) Bill 2023 were approved.

In two other important decisions, the cabinet approved the draft of the Leasehold Rights to the Homeless People in Urban Areas of Chhattisgarh Bill 2023 and the draft of the Chhattisgarh Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill-2023.

It also approved the draft of the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly Member Salary, Allowances and Pension (Amendment) Bill 2023.

The cabinet has decided to create a new post of Officer on Special Duty at the Police Headquarters, Chhattisgarh, for a period of one year.

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Soyabean exports up by 50% in Feb

Soyabean exports from India in February touched 2.30 lakh tonne, up more than 50 per cent from the previous month led by an increase in purchases from South East Asian buyers, according to a trade body of soybean processors.

Soyabean meal exports in January were 1.50 lakh ton while exports in February last year were 43,000 ton, according to Soybean Processors Association of India (SOPA).

Sauni cost increased from Rs 10,000 crore to Rs 18,000 crore, says Gujarat govt

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The told the house on Saturday that the estimate of Saurashtra-Narmada Avataran Irrigation Yojana (Sauni), which was given an in-principle sanction of Rs 10,000 crore, has been increased to Rs 18,563 crore.

Modhwadia sought an inquiry into the matter as the state finance department had issued a note stating that the SOR for the project was not as per the rules. He stated that the tenders invited for the project were at 45% higher rate.
Stating that there was no need for an inquiry, Patel said that during a survey it was found that more pipes were required and hence the project cost was increased. The government said that the rates were fixed as per the SOR (system of record) of 2011-12.

The government also stated that the right of way and the cost of electricity connection were not taken into account in the primary approval. These were included in the secondary approval given in 2018.